Where do we put the new secondary school?

R&DRA's response to the TRDC Questionnaire:

For the:
Head of Development Plans
Three Rivers District Council
Three Rivers House
Northway
Rickmansworth WD3 1RL

Site Allocations Issues and Options - Detailed Response to Part 1 (Secondary Schools)

References:

Introduction.

Comments on Reference 1.

Reference 1 and the associated site reports have been produced by Vincent and Gorbing on behalf of HCC. The report fails to identify a site that is large enough for an 8 form entry school, is centrally located and has excellent access, so all sites listed are considered to have significant limitations. Although it is high level report that seeks to exclude those sites that are totally unsuitable, it has the following shortcomings:

There is no indication of the likely traffic flows at each site. The Association assumes that, with 1500 pupils and up to a 100 staff, the majority of staff and a significant proportion of senior pupils would travel by their own cars whilst for all five sites shortlisted in Reference 2 there would be a further substantial number of pupils delivered and collected by parents.

There is no assessment of the likely impact of adding to the clustering of schools in Rickmansworth Town Centre (Joan of Arc), Croxley Green (Rickmansworth School) and south Watford (Watford Boys Grammar and Westfield). The introduction of a further large school in the middle of the cluster would add to the overloading of the road network that is already apparent whilst a school to the south of Rickmansworth, particularly if it is a community school, would remove many pupils living in the Moneyhill to Maple Cross area from the road traffic load through Rickmansworth and Croxley Green. A school on sites 2 or 20 would, furthermore, create a traffic flow in the opposite direction to the existing primary rush hour traffic flows and, therefore make best use of public transport that is currently lightly used.

The comments about bus services are confused as they refer to No 5 and 6 buses and No 320 and 321 buses as separate services whereas, in fact, the Nos 5 and 6 bus routes were renumbered Nos 320 and 321 and, therefore, the report double counts these bus services.

The report takes no account of the economic impact of partial compulsory purchase of part of a farm on the overall viability of that farm.

The report makes no attempt to compare and contrast the impact of each development, For example, considering sites 2 (Land east of A405 (North Orbital)/north of A412, Mill End Rickmansworth) and 20 (Froghall Farm and adjoining land, Maple Cross), the first site is a single large field that forms an important and integral part of a viable farm whilst the latter site is made up of a series of sections that are no longer part of an active viable farm. Both sites are in the Green Belt but the former acts as substantial barrier between Mill End, at the southern end of Rickmansworth, and Maple Cross whilst the latter is now second rate land that is gradually being taken for non-farming use. Although some of the land at Froghall Farm is shown as being at risk of flooding, the Environment Agency map shows only a small proportion of the land as being at risk without any further prevention measures and, therefore, the Association does not believe that this is a reason for rejecting the site.

Where it is proposed that school access be through existing housing estates, as in two of the Croxley Green sites, the report makes light of the impact on local residents. It makes no attempt to quantify the number of cars, school buses or local buses that would use those roads.

The Association believes that the report gives excessive importance to current HCC Highway Authority Policy, making it the major determinant of a site's suitability with no attempt to balance it against the alternative of the impact on local residents.
Finally, it appears that the report has been put together without observing the current rush hour traffic flow, and in particular the morning rush hour traffic, at sites No 2 (Land east of A405 (North Orbital)/north of A412, Mill End Rickmansworth) and No 13 (Baldwins Lane ).

Assumptions

R&DRA is making the following assumptions, based on the Reference documents and comments made during and after the public meeting on the 6th December 2010:

The proposed school would have 8 forms of entry and cater for pupils from Age 11 to the end of the sixth form.

Pupils would be drawn from Hillingdon, Buckinghamshire and, possibly, Harrow as well as Hertfordshire.

Depending on the site chosen, a substantial number of senior pupils will use cars to travel to school and appropriate provision needs to be made for that.

Whichever site is chosen there would be a need for enhanced, and possibly re-routed, bus services in addition to any school bus services that may be established.

Assessment.

The Association's assessment will focus on two issues:

The impact on the community of the traffic flow induced by a new school.

The impact on the community and landscape of the loss of open land.

The impact on the community of the traffic flow induced by a new school. The Association believes that, if the school is to minimise the impact on the local community of the traffic flows it induces, an essential criterion is that it should be located with direct access on to a major highway. Whichever of the sites is chosen, there is little or no rail access from most of the likely HCC catchment area whilst pupils from Buckinghamshire, Hillingdon or Harrow could only travel by rail for part of the journey, at best walking to sites 8, 11 or 13, whilst mostly changing to a bus service.

The two sites, Nos 8 and 11, adjacent to Little Green Lane in Croxley Green fail such a criterion as the development of either site would demand that either Little Green Lane and its approach roads be widened to take bus traffic in either direction simultaneously, an very expensive probably very unpopular course of action, or that introduction of traffic control and parking control measures in the housing estate roads leading on to the site.

The Baldwins Lane site, No 13, would have direct access to a main feeder road but that road is frequently clogged at rush hours. Given the proximity of central Watford and Croxley Business Park and the queues that these locations already generate in the peak periods it appears that the surrounding road network is already at, close to or over capacity and would therefore struggle to accommodate the generated flows. Furthermore, unless a substantial portion of this restricted site is given over to a buses and car unloading area the inevitable rows of cars and buses parked to unload or collect passengers will further hamper local traffic and add to the congestion.

The site on land east of A405 (North Orbital)/north of A412, Mill End Rickmansworth, No 2, is proposed to have access on to Long Lane and thence on to the Uxbridge Road (A412). Given the likely traffic flow that would be induced by the school the lower part of Long Lane would have to be substantially widened and the junction with the A412 would have to be either light controlled at peak times, with a long section widened to give a right turn lane for traffic heading south, or changed to some form of roundabout configuration.

Site No 20, Froghall Farm and adjoining land, Maple Cross, would need direct access on to a rebuilt roundabout at the end of the spur road leading to Junction 17 of the M25. There should be few traffic problems introduced by the construction of 4th exit off the roundabout and this site, provided adequate on-site provision is made for car parking and for car and bus unloading and collecting passengers, would provide the best and easiest access of all the short-listed sites. Additionally this site, along with Site 2, would use public transport that is currently lightly loaded because of the dominance of schools and employment in Rickmansworth, Croxley Green and south Watford. This is the only site that would clearly meet the Association's essential criterion for optimum traffic flow.

The impact on the community and landscape of the loss of open land. Whist not seeking to make a large secondary school invisible, the Association believes that its construction should, if possible, minimise the destruction of Green Belt farmland and avoid starting a process whereby further Green Belt destruction becomes but a small step. The Association believes that any development should be "community friendly".

Development of a school at any of sites 2 (east of A405 North Orbital), 8 and 11 (adjacent to Little Green Lane in Croxley Green) would all entail very obvious encroachment on the Green Belt. Site specific issues are:

Site 8 (Former Durrants School playing field and Killingdown Farm, Croxley Green) would have the least impact of these three sites as it would be within the urban boundary formed by Little Green Lane. The substantial road development needed in the residential area to provide access to Site 8 for the heavy rush hour traffic would, however, create substantial problems for the community and more than counterbalance its limited impact on the Green Belt and urban boundary.

Site 2 would, in addition to making a very visible encroachment that would further close the gap between Mill End and Maple Cross, have two other significant effects:

The farm on which a school at site 2 would be located is a mixed dairy and arable farm and, given the current economic state of dairy farming, the arable land is almost certainly the key to the farm's profitability and the loss of the arable land to a school at Site 8 could seriously impair the economic variability of the whole farm. The field is held leasehold so the farm itself would have no significant compensation for the loss of the land.

The loss of the field to the farm would place the remainder of the farmland on the Mill End side of the M25 under great pressure for development, further accelerating the spread of the urban area.

The Association believes, therefore, that all three sites fail to meet its criterion of being "community friendly".

Development of a school at Site 13 (Baldwins Lane) would, if the very complex access and traffic flow problems could be solved, be community friendly providing the development could avoid the destruction of too much of the woodland on the site and the landscaping was carefully carried out. Should the Croxley Link be built, although that is unlikely before 2018 at the earliest, it could reduce the amount of road traffic generated by a school on this site. Finally, it is believed that substantially more landscaping would be needed than the report suggests in order to provide all the necessary facilities the school would need. This site may meet the Association's criterion.

Development of a school at Site 20 (Froghall Farm and adjoining land, Maple Cross) would be using land that, although in the Green Belt, is now marginal, tucked away out of sight and is flanked by residential and commercial development.  It would, therefore, be taking land that is currently of the least utility of all 5 sites shortlisted. For the community served by the Association (the wards of Rickmansworth, Rickmansworth West, Penn and the Mill End element of Maple Cross ad Mill End) the site would be reasonably easy to access by bus, car or, using the back roads of the Cedars Estate and Mill End, by bicycle and would avoid the destruction of good farm land.

The Association believes that the site that best meets its Community criterion is Site 20 (Froghall Farm and adjoining land, Maple Cross), although Site 8 (Baldwins lane) may be suitable.

Conclusion

The R&DRA is strongly in favour of Site 20 (Froghall Farm and adjoining land, Maple Cross) for a new secondary school as it meets the two criteria that the Association believes are essential to the development of a viable and accessible school that creates the minimum of damage to the environment and community.

Peter Crispin January 2011
Chairman